Mississippi business survey reveals workforce needs

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - More than 5,600 businesses filled out surveys for the Secretary of State’s office, and some of the information bucks the trends of what you may have heard in the past.

“75 percent of what people look at when they’re deciding whether they’re going to hire you or not is not whether you took a skill/trade certificate," explained Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. "That’s helpful. That puts you more over here. But look, it’s whether you show up on time, talk to your fellow employee, and you’re timely.”

Items like GPA and ACT scores were low on the totem pole. But there was a disconnect discovered between businesses and the career and technical programs in K-12 and community colleges.

“All of a sudden they’re realizing that we don’t have the employees," noted Hosemann. "We don’t have a big growth in Mississippi. I don’t know what the census will be. We’re working on that for the Governor. They’re realizing in that working pool, they’re going to have to compete and the way to compete is to go into these schools and get the best ones out for us.”

Another shift? More than 60 percent of the LLCs and corporations surveyed say they’re willing to consider hiring a trained applicant who has been convicted of a non-violent felony.

“Businesses have told us, we’ll hire them," said Hosemann. "Bring us somebody with a skill. Maybe just not even a skill so much, but somebody that will come to work, be timely, be honest, and communicate. So you may not even need some overriding skill, the businesses will teach them that.”

Still having trouble connecting to a job? Surveyed businesses say the primary way they’re finding employees is through social networking, more so than online job sites or temp agencies.